Mr Brown said: “The outcome is the same as it was four years ago, but with a much lower share of the vote. And it seems to me that upset voters have used the ballot box in some case to show their frustration with the expenses situation.

“I think a lot of Labour voters have simply stayed at home rather than vote for someone else. I think that the party would have performed as well no matter who was in charge. The issue here was expenses.

“We need to show we are strongly supporting our leader because supporters want to see us united. They and party members have very clearly said they do not like the continued disruption this is causing and they want it sorted out quickly.

“We need to show that we are still committed to rising prosperity across the North East, a policy which the Conservatives could not follow.”

The UK Independence Party took fourth place with 15% of the vote followed by the BNP on 9% and the Greens on 6%.

Turnout in the election was 589,865, which amounted to just over 30% of the electorate, a 10% drop on the last election.

Labour’s vote of 147,338 was down hugely from the 266,057 the party got in 2004.

The North East is regarded as one of Labour’s strongest regions, although they have been under pressure in recent years from both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

On Thursday the Conservatives won the mayor of North Tyneside election while the Lib Dems control both Newcastle City Council and Northumberland County Council.

The region was the first to declare its vote last night, with the result signaling a bad night for Labour. Despite that, Labour Chief Whip Nick Brown challenged Labour rebels weighing the prospects for a leadership challenge to either make their move or rally behind the Prime Minister.

“The time has come for them to nominate their candidate, see if they’ve got sufficient nominations and take the issue to a party conference,” he said.

“If they can’t do that, they should get behind the leadership that the overwhelming majority of party members support.”

Elsewhere, Labour was facing the prospect of failing to top the poll in Wales and Scotland, and being pushed into fifth place behind the Green Party in the South East.

With Mr Brown’s political survival hanging in the balance, deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted that they were expecting a “very dismal“ night.

All parties know Westminster has to be cleaned up. I would say 90% the coverage in the mass media is dripping with poison